Paul the apostle’s statement that he had lived in “a good conscience before God until this day'” resulted in him being smacked in the mouth at the order of the high priest Ananias (Acts 23:1-2). Notwithstanding , Paul restated his composed assurance five days later, after being transported from Jerusalem to Caesar.
Appearing before Governor Felix, following the defamatory charges of “a certain orator named Turtullus”, Paul again stated that he exercised himself “to always have a conscience void of offense toward God and men” (Acts 24:16).
No smacks in the mouth this time, due to the absence of the high priest — and despite the orator’s description of him as “a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, who also has gone about to profane the temple.” The civil law of Rome was more protective of Paul’s rights than the religious law applied by mouth-slapping hands as ordered by the high priest.
The New Testament Greek word translated “conscience” in both texts is in the same word family as “consciousness”. That the Apostle was not conscious of any wrongdoing on his part in any matter was a bold statement given his rough treatment at the hands of religious leaders in Jerusalem. But to Paul, a good conscience was not passive self-awareness but rather a result of “exercise” — of a daily striving to keep his mind clear and clean in the eyes of God and of men.
Paul ‘wrote the book’ (so to speak) on Mind Renewal and its importance in the lives of Christians. (Click on: How To Renew Your Thinking – Peter E. Barfoot at www.PeterBarfootMinistry.com in “Books” to read and/or download Free.)
The key is in knowing and by daily confession the truths revealed by Paul the Apostle in 2 Corinthian 5:16-17, and how to exercise them in Ephesians 4:22-32. Especially verse 28, which examples how reversal works in the life of a Christian who before conversion whose lifestyle had involved thieving.
Law, in the form of legalistic disapproval from those who are inclined toward verbally slapping those who are saved but not sanctified, is not the answer: the answer is the application of Grace.
You can learn to live with yourself, and it’s not by denying but instead applying. The answer is not in trying to ‘crucify’ the flesh — the person you were before coming to know Jesus, but instead by boldly declaring the New You you are Now! We are “born again” — “born from above” — as the “wind” of the Spirit of God “blows” on us. Change is instantaneous. But renewing the mind takes time.
Meantime, don’t ‘slap yourself in the mouth’ when you say the wrong thing but be kind to yourself, knowing that “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) A good old adage is: “God loves us the way we are, but loves us too much to let us stay that way.”
Amen to that!